Sickle-bar for harvesters



(No Model.)

W. H. PALMER.

SIGKLE BAR FOR HARVESTERS.

No. 443,791. Patented Dec. 30,1890.

' y E 1 I 1 1 25555: yftl/gibzw v \Nllllam' HPal-n E1" 4 Wm A EH *'NITED STATES ATENT \VILLIAM II. PALMER, OF YALE, MICHIGAN.

SlCKLE-BAR FOR HARVESTERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 443,791, dated December30, 1890.

Application filed October 10, 1889. Serial No. 326,641. (No model.)

Tq all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. PALMER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Yale, in the county of St. Clair and State of Michigan, haveinvented certain new and useful- Improvements in Sickle-Bars forHarvesters, of which the followingis a specification, reference beinghad therein to the accompanying drawings. I

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in sickle-bars forharvesters; and the invention consists in the novel construction andarrangement whereby the sickles or knives are detachably secured to thesickle-bar, all as more fully hereinafter described, and shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a plan of a section of asicklebar detached from the harvester. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectionthereof 011 line 0c 90. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of a sickle-bar online y y in Fig.1, showing it in position as in operation. Fig. at is across-section .of a sickle-bar with sickles of slightly-modified form.Fig. 5 is a plan view of a modified form of sicklebar embodying myinvention in another form. Fig. 6 is a cross-section thereof on line tow, and Fig. 7 is a detached plan of one of the notched sickles.

A represents a series of sickles or knives of the usual form. B is thesickle-bar to which they are secured; C, the finger-bar, and, D thefingers in which the sickles operate as in the usual manner, except ashereinafter described.

My invention consists in the novel manner in which the sickles aresecured to the sicklebar, and to this end I use the following means: Thesickle bar I preferably make in two parts, which I secure together atintervals by rivets E, with an open slot equal to the thickness of theknives between them and extending the whole length of the bar. Into thisslot the knives are assembled side by side and clamped against a fixedabutment at one end of the slot by a wedge F, driven in at the other endof the slot between the first knife of the series and the fixed abutmentor rivet G. This wedge or key I secure in a substantial manner by aset-screw or otherwise, so that it will not be liable to becomedetached, except for the purpose of detaching the knives from the bar. Ipreferably secure the rivets E, which secure the two parts of thesickle-bar together at intervals, coincident with the width of threeknives, so that one rivet passes between each third knife, allowing thewedge to act throughout the whole series of sicklcs to clamp themtogether, the edges of the knives adjoining the rivet having notches Hcutinto them, as shown in Fig. 7, which notches have to be deep enoughto prevent the sickles from binding upon the rivet. .With a sickle-barso constructed it will be seen that if it is desired to remove theknives, for the purpose of grinding or otherwise, from the sickle-bar,the wedge being first loosened, every knife in the center of the threeconstituting a section can be driven out backwardly, as shown in dottedlines in Fig. 1, and after it has been removed the two adjoining knivesmay be disengaged from the sickle-bar. Thus every section can be readilyremoved in the same manner. The mounting of the knives on the bar isthen accomplished in the reverse manner, andafter they are put inposition side byside the wedge is then firmly driven in, so that all theknives crowd against each other against the abutment held between thefixed abutment at one end and the end of the bar at the other. I do notintend to confine myself to this construction alone, as it is obviousthat upon the principle I have now described many modifications may bemade-sueh as, for instance, that instead of one wedge to hold the wholeseries of knives, several wedges may be used, each one for a portion ofthe series of knives; and, further, to give more stability to the knivesof the sickle-bar the knives may be provided with a downwardly-projectingflange I at the rear end, as shown in Fig. 4, or as shown inFig. 6, in which said flange extends to the under side of thesickle-bar. With a sickle-bar of this latter construction it will beseen that my principle of clamping the knives in series may be appliedwith a single sicklebar, as shown in Fig. 5, and that, instead of awedge F for clamping, a screw J or other ICQ Further, my constructionmakes use of the simpliest form of sickles, and thus admits ofinterchangeability with almost any form of sickles used in thediflferent styles or constructions of harvesters, provided the sicklehas the right width; and, further, it will be seen that with myconstruction it will be practicable to remove any of the knives in caseof emergency without dismounting the sickle-bar from the harvester. As,suppose the sickle-bar to be held in position in the usual manner, asshown in Fig. 3, it will be possible, without removing or turning thespringplates K out of the way, that the rear edge of the sickle-bar maybe sprung up suliiciently to dismount the knivesin the manner beforedescribed. This is a decided advantage, as with most other constructionsthe sickle-bar has to be dismounted entirely, and thus a vexations delayoccurs.

A further advantage of my construction is that the whole series ofknivesfbeing' clamped together in one body, there is no liability of anyone knife becoming loose, and as there is but one locking device for thesickles the mounting and disinounting are quickly ac complished.

The rivets E, which secure the two parts of the sickle-bar together, arein the first place for the purpose of keeping the two bars in theirproper relative position to each other; and it will be conceded, also,that they form an element of stability for the knives, as each rivetpassing between two sickles will hold the same against displacement inthe line of the draft.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is- In a sickle-bar, a series of rivets orposts E and a series of knives arranged in groups of three between theposts, the outer knives of the groups having side grooves in their outeredges, in which the rivets enter, and the center knives having evenedges, permitting an easy insertion of the same between the outer knivesof the group, and a'clamping device to secure the knives in place,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature, in presence of two witnesses,this 3d day of October, 1889.

' WI LLIAM Il. PALMER.

Vt'itnesses:

ED. MoBaEAn'rv, Geo. A. GREGG.

